Fire extinguisher



Se t. 25, 1956 GUTTERMAN 2,764,245

FIRE EXTINGUISHER Filed June 10. 1954 W//////////////%//M// /fl IN V ENTOR. HQRRY Gurrsmwuv /WZM A 7'7'ORNE Y United States Patent C FIREEXTINGUISHER Harry Gutter-man, New York, N. Y.

Application June 10, 1954, Serial No. 435,680

4 Claims. (Cl.-169-2'6) any person present, so that the fire may be-morequickly extinguished.

A further object of the invention is to" provide an improved fireextinguisher which is inexpensive to manufacture, which is easy toinstall in alocation to be protected, which isnot readily subject todamage in the handling or installation thereof, which is provided withautomatic means for operating same in the event that a fire starts whenno personsare present, and which may be readily and quickly removed fromits mounting by any personpresent whena-firestarts and may be employedmanually by such a person.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom the following description and claims, and from the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of an improved fire extinguisheraccording to the present invention, shown mounted inposition forautomatic operation.

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical longitudinal cross-sectional view takenthrough the intermediate portion of the fire extinguisher of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical cross sectional View takenlongitudinally through an end portion of the fire extinguisher of Figure1.

Figure 4 is a transverse vertical cross-sectional view taken on line 4-4of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a transverse vertical cross-sectional view taken on line'55of Figure'Z.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary enlarged side elevational view of a portion ofthe fire extinguisher of Figure 1 adjacent one of the flexiblesupporting brackets employed with the fire extinguisher and showing themeans for flexing the bracket for disengaging the fire extinguishertherefrom when the fire extinguisher is to be employed manually.

Referring to the rawings, the improved fire extinguisher comprises anelongated outer protective housing 11', which may be generallycylindrical in shape, and which is formed of relatively shock-resistantmaterial, such as plastic or the like, so that it is resistant to shockor impact such as may occur during handling or transportation of theextinguisher. Disposed in the housing '11 is the generally cylindrical,elongated glass container 12 which is filled with suitable fireextinguishing liquid3ii, such as carbon tetrachloride.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the outer plastic shell or housing, Illclosely covers the major portion of the surface of the innerglasscontainer 12. However, the end wall 13 of housing 1-1 is-spaced ashort distance from the end wall 14 of the glass container 12. The endwall "ice 2 13 is formed with an apertured c'entr'a'l boss' 15 in whichis slidably mounted a plunger rod 16.

Rigidly secured to the inner end of the plunger rod 16 is the enlargedhead element 17 which is formed with a serrated forward surface 18facing the end wall 14 of glass container 12. The outer end of plungerrod 16 is provided with an enlarged head element 19. A relatively lightcoiled spring 20 surrounds the plunger rod 16 and bears between boss 15and head element 19, biasing the inner head element 18 against theinside surface of the end wall 13 of housing 11.

End wall 13 is formed with a plurality'of apertures 21 spaced aroundboss 15 for the discharge of the fire extinguishing liquid 38 when theglass end wall 14 is broken, as will be presently described.

The end wall 14 may be broken by grasping. the fire extinguisher andstriking the head element 19 against any suitable stationary object,exerting substantial forward axial striking force on the fireextinguisher, whereby the impact against the head element is transmitted"through plunger rod 16 to the serrated head element 18, causing saidhead element 18 to strike the glass end wall 14 with suificie'nt forceto break said glass end wall. The fire extinguishing liquid 33 may thenbe discharged through the apertures 21 by wielding the fire extinguisherin the manner of a wand or torch.

The device is preferably of substantial length so that the user thereofmay stand a safe distance away from the burning area, while distributingthe fire extinguishing liquid over said area.

The intermediate portion of the inner glass container 12 is formed withan outwardly offset window element 22 which projects through the wall ofthe outer plastic housing 11 and is thus exposed at the intermediateportion of the device. The thickness of the window element 22 may besomewhat less than the thickness of the remainder of the wall of theglass container 12.

Mounted-on the outer housing 11 adjacent window 22 is a collar bracket23 formed with'a pair of depending parallel lugs 24, 24, as shown inFigure 5. Extending through said lugs is a pivot shaft 25 on whichisrotatably secured an arm 26. Secured to the outer end portion of arm26 is a striking head 27 which is arranged to engage window 22 when arm26 is rotated clockwise from the position thereof shown in Figures 1 and2.

Bracket member 23 is formed with an offset arm 28 which extends parallelto housing 11 on the side of the bracket opposite window 22. Designatedat 29 is a link member of fusible material having an upper hook element30 engaged in an aperture 31 in the end of arm 28 and a lower hookelement 32 engaged in-an aperture 33 in the end of arm 26.

A spring 34 is provided, said spring having respective coiled portions35, 35 encircling pivot shaft 25' on opposite sides of arm 26 and havingan intermediate U- shaped portion 36 engaging the top surface of arm.26, as shown in Figure 2. The ends of the spring, shown at 37, 37, bearupwardly on the bottom surface of bracket collar 23, whereby theintermediate U-shaped portion 36 of the spring exerts a substantialbiasing force on arm 26, urging said arm clockwise, as viewed in Figures1 and 2. When the arm 26 is released, as when the fusible link 29 melts,the spring 34 rotates arm 26 clockwise with considerable force, causingthe head 27 to strike and shatter the exposed glass window element 22,releasing the fire extinguishing liquid 33.

The bracket collar 23 preferably comprises a strip of substantiallyresilient material, such as flexible metal, formed at oneend with arectangular hook portion 39 and formed at its other end with anoutwardly projecting finger element 40 lockingly engageable with thedepending erally similar to the collar bracket 23.

bracket collars.

end 41 of hook portion 39, as shown in Figure 5. By disengaging fingerelement 40 from end 41, the bracket collar may be loosened so that itsposition may be properly adjusted on housing 11 to the correct distancefrom the exposed window 22 when the fire extinguisher is installed. Atother times, the bracket member 23 may be secured on housing 11 in aposition sufficiently removed from window 22 so that removal oraccidental rupture of the link element 29 will not cause fracture of thewindow.

The fire extinguisher is preferably installed in a manner allowing it tobe quickly detached from its mounting for manual use. Thus, the devicemay be supported at its end portions in respective collar brackets 23,23' gen- Each collar bracket 23' may comprise a strip of flexible metalor similar flexible material, formed at one end with a rectangular 'hookportion 39 and formed at its other end with an outwardly projectingfinger element 40' lockingly engageable with the depending end 41' ofhook portion 39, as

shown in Figure 4. A supporting bolt 42 extends upwardcated adjacent theedges of the respective bracket collars 23', 23', as shown in Figure 1,said pin elements being located adjacent the outwardly projecting fingerelements 40, namely, adjacent the most flexible portions of the As abovestated, said collars are fabricated from strip material of substantialresilience, so that the finger elements 40 may be readily flexed out ofengagement with their cooperating locking elements 41' when the fireextinguisher is moved longitudinally, namely, to the I left, as viewedin Figure l, by the abutment of the pin elements 48, 48 with the edgesof the flexible portions of the collars.

Thus, when it is desired to use the fire extinguisher manually, theextinguisher is manually moved lengthwise to cause pin elements 48 todisengage finger 40 from the hook ends 41', whereby the normal clampingforce of the bracket collars 23 on the extinguisher is released,enabling the extinguisher to be readily pulled away from the bracketcollars.

It will be understood that normally the fire extinguisher is mounted inthe manner shown in Figure 1, whereby the presence of a fire will causethe fusible link 29 to melt and i will thus cause the exposed window 22to be fractured by striker element 27, as above explained, releasing thefire extinguishing liquid 38.

If a person is present when the fire starts, he may readily remove thefire extinguisher from its supporting brackets in the manner abovedescribed and employ the extinguisher manually.

The protective plastic housing 11 not only serves to improve theappearance of the fire extinguisher but also serves to preventaccidental breakage of the inner glass container 12 by rough handlingduring transportation or storage. I

Inadvertent fracture of the end wall 14 of the inner glass container 12during handling of the fire extinguisher is substantially prevented bythe provision of the light biasing spring 20 on the plunger rod 16.Thus, a substantial striking force must be applied to the plunger headmember 19 to overcome the biasing force of spring 20 and to cause theserrated inner plunger head to strike wall 14 with a sufficient impactto fracture same.

The fire extinguisher may be made of any desired length. When made ofsubstantial length, a plurality of windows 22 may be provided, spacedalong the length of the device,

and a bracket 23 carrying a striker element 27 and fusible link 29 maybe provided adjacent each window, as in Figure 2.

While a specific embodiment of an improved fire extinguisher has beendisclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understood thatvarious modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur tothose skilled in the art. Therefore it is intended that no limitationsbe placed on the invention except as defined by the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A fire extinguisher comprising an elongated tubular inner containerof relatively frangible material containing fire extinguishing liquid,an outer housing of relatively non-frangible material closelysurrounding the major portion of said inner container, said innercontainer having a frangible window element at its intermediate portionprojecting outwardly from and exposed through said outer housing,temperature-responsive striking means mounted on said outer housingadjacent said window element and being arranged to fracture said windowelement responsive to a predetermined rise in temperature, the end wallof said outer housing being spaced from the end wall of said innercontainer, a striking member movably carried by the end wall of saidouter housing and being engageable with the end wall of said innercontainer to fracture said inner container responsive to striking forcemanually exerted on said striking member, the end portion of said outerhousing being apertured to allow fire extinguishing liquid to bedischarged therefrom, flexible bracket elements surrounding said outerhousing and being adapted to be secured to a support, said bracketelements each including a pair of interengageable end locking elements,one of which is relatively flexible with respect to the other, securingthe bracket elements around the housing, and respective projections onsaid outer housing engageable with the relatively flexible lockingelements to disengage the relatively flexible locking elements from theother locking elements responsive to manual movement of the housinglengthwise relative to said bracket elements, whereby the fireextinguisher may be at times removed from said bracket means for manualuse.

2. A fire extinguisher comprising an elongated tubular inner containerof relatively frangible material containing fire extinguishing liquid,an outer housing of relatively rigid nonfrangible material closelysurrounding the major portion of the area of said inner container, saidinner container having a frangible portion projecting outwardly throughthe wall of said outer housing, a support adjustably mounted on saidouter housing and arranged for longitudinal adjustment on said outerhousing, an arm on said support extending longitudinally of the outerhousing, a striker member pivoted to the support, spring means urgingsaid striker member away from said arm, a fusible link connecting saidstriker member to said arm and normally preventing striking engagementof the striker member with said frangible portion, said striker member,when released, being adapted to engage said outwardly projecting portionof said inner container with suflicient force to fracture saidlast-named portion, and means for at times adjusting said support to aposition where said striker member cannot engage said last-namedportion.

3. A fire extinguisher comprising an elongated tubular inner containerof relatively frangible material containing fire extinguishing liquid,an outer housing of relatively rigid, nonfrangible material closelysurrounding the major portion of the area of said inner container, saidouter housing being formed with an opening of relatively limited areathrough which said inner container is exposed, a support adjustablymounted on said outer housing, an arm on said support extending adjacentsaid outer housing, a striker member pivoted to the support, springmeans urging the striker member away from said arm, a fusible linkconnecting said striker member to said arm and normally preventingstriking engagement of the striker member with the exposed portion ofsaid inner container, said striker member, when released being adaptedto engage said exposed portion with sufiicient force to fracture same,and means for at times adjusting said support longitudinally on saidouter housing to a position where said striker member cannot engage saidexposed portion.

4. A fire extinguisher comprising an elongated tubular inner containerof relatively frangible material containing fire extinguishing liquid,an outer housing of relatively rigid, nonfrangible material closelysurrounding the major portion of the area of said inner container, saidouter housing being formed with an opening of relatively limited areathrough which said inner container is exposed, a support adjustablymounted on said outer housing, a striker member pivoted to the support,spring means urging the striker member away from said support, a fusiblelink connecting said striker member to said support and normallypreventing striking engagement of the striker member with the exposedportion of said inner container, said striker member, when released,being adapted to engage said exposed portion with sufficient force tofracture same, and means for at times adjusting said supportlongitudinally on said outer housing to a position where said strikermember cannot engage said exposed portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,670,806 Grifliths May 22, 1928 1,849,644 Stokes Mar. 15, 19321,892,724 Green Jan. 3, 1933 1,925,228 Bronander Sept. 5, 1933 1,961,567Nelson June 5, 1934 2,016,668 Current et a1. Oct. 8, 1935 2,152,761Grison Apr. 4, 1939 2,293,366 Solosko Aug. 18, 1942

